Edinburgh University library to make showbiz debut at Fringe

The University of Edinburgh has announced that the George Square Library is to be used as a venue during the Fringe festival this August.

According to sources close to Principal Timothy O’Shea, the university will be renting out the library to a site-specific theatre troupe from the United States for the duration of the comedy and theatre festival.

The library will remain open to students during the Fringe, with students and other library users becoming part of the interactive theatre performances.

The tenants will be US post-modern theatre troupe, Boston Improvisational Solutions. Creative Director, Avril Fish told the Journal: “We want audience members—we think of them more as ‘participants’—to rethink how a space of learning can be used.

“For instance, how would you approach a library if all the books were removed, or if the studious silence was replaced by a cacophony of rumbling, banging, and mobile phone conversations? What if you had to queue, just to use a computer terminal?

“In the absence of the normal facilities of a library, we want to encourage participants to engage each other in ‘pods’ and share what knowledge resources they already have, through new means such as social networking sites, as well as casual conversation,” Ms Fish said.

When contacted by the Journal, the Principal’s office refused to comment; however, an unnamed source said: “With Edinburgh Napier being fined almost a third of a million pounds for over-recruitment, the university has made the judgement that fitting as many students into classes as possible isn’t a sustainable revenue stream anymore.

“Instead, we will be looking creatively at how our world-class resources can be put at the disposal of private enterprise.”

When pressed on the suitability of turning the Main Library into a theatre, the source told the Journal: “It’s really just a question of adapting our existing policy of putting bums on seats.”

No other plans have been officially confirmed as yet; however, the Journal understands that negotiations are already underway for the rental of certain other facilities.

Other possible agreements include adding Teviot Row House and New College Library to the popular Edinburgh Dungeon tours, and opening Potterrow Dome as a public baths every other Thursday.